


Pawsome

by sagansjagger



Series: It's the End of the World As We Know It [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Animal Abuse, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:47:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,096
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25344901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sagansjagger/pseuds/sagansjagger
Summary: When Chat Blanc realizes Bunnyx isn't coming back for him like she promised, he leaves Paris, only to find that he isn't alone at the end of the world.
Relationships: Chat Blanc & Plagg (the dog)
Series: It's the End of the World As We Know It [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1835440
Comments: 41
Kudos: 48
Collections: Miraculous Kick the Dog Challenge





	Pawsome

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BubblegumLeather](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubblegumLeather/gifts).



> This story is canon to another story of mine, [A Boy in White, A Boy in Black, A Lady in Red](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25325890), where Chat Blanc spends months alone and is eventually visited by Bunnyx, who changes his life. This story takes place about two weeks after Boy in White, though Chat doesn’t know that, as he can no longer tell time.
> 
> Poor, poor Chat Blanc.
> 
> Based on the Miraculous Fanworks Discord server (link in the end notes) “Miraculous Kick the Dog Challenge," where heroes have to kick puppies rather than villains! Proposed by Maspers. 
> 
> TRIGGER WARNINGS: Animal cruelty. Implied/Referenced death and destruction.

Chat Blanc had left Paris. 

Bunnyx was never coming back. She’d _promised_ she would, and she never did. She’d left Chat Blanc alone again, and he spent many, many weeks being angry at her, before finally deciding to give up being mad because it wouldn’t change anything.

He abandoned his schedule--which included yelling at and singing songs to the ash statues of Gabriel and Ladybug, floating face up in the water, and pretending to eat meals--and set off swimming towards… he didn’t know where. South, so he was probably heading to Savigny-sur-Orge. 

He’d been bouncing across buildings and swimming for days, so he may already be there. Mostly dog paddling but occasionally using the breaststroke, Chat slowly made his way across the underwater French countryside.

The only sounds were of his splashing. The only smells were of fish, salt, and sulfur. The only sights were drowned buildings and the occasional ash statue.

Had he really destroyed the entire world? He must have. 

Chat talked to the statues as he passed them. “Hello, Mrs. Bain,” he said, giggling to himself yet again for the pun. Bain as a surname meant an attendant at a bathhouse, and the whole world was that for him, now. All the women were Mrs. Bains. “How are you today? Me? I’m fine, fine, thank you for asking.”

The setting sun cast an orange glow over the water. Chat’s muscles burned from treading water all day. He didn’t need to eat, but he still liked to pretend to eat Marinette’s macarons, so he wouldn’t forget the flavor. He found an upended building--possibly a bakery? That made him sad--with an ash statue of a man on the top of it. 

Chat pulled himself out of the water and saluted the man. “You’re looking good today, Mr. Bonheur. You’re hungry? I’m starved.” 

Chat never touched the dead Parisians. He’d poked a little girl once, craving human contact, and she dissolved in the water. Panicked, he swore never to kill--really kill, kill twice over--a person again.

Chat pulled his legs up to his chest and wrapped his arms around his knees. He sighed, and indulged in his fantasy of eating a macaron and writing a letter to Marinette. 

“Dear Marinette,” he started. “How are you? I know you’re dead and I say that every time, but I still can’t believe it.”

“Me neither,” Marinette said, her voice ethereal and haunting, and Chat sighed. He hadn’t heard her voice in so long, he was forgetting the sound of it. Even his hallucinations were starting to get it wrong.

Then he heard a strange sound. His feline ears flicked. The noise was far off in the distance, further to the south. His hallucinations were usually right next to him, not far away, and Marinette had never… _howled_ , before.

Chat stood up. _An animal?_ he thought, his breath catching in his throat. _There’s a dog out there?_

He dove into the water, pumping his arms and legs as fast as he could go, cutting through the water like a knife. Chat propelled himself forward, an adrenaline rush fueling his body. 

The howling stopped. Chat stopped, too, and screamed. “No, no, no!” he said, slapping the surface of the rippling water. “Don’t stop! Don’t stop, let me find you!”

Chat Blanc listened, his feline ears twitching. He could barely hear over the sound of his heart slamming in his ears. He swallowed his anxiety before it spiraled out of control.

Tears stung his eyes, and he dashed them away with the back of his wrist. _Please,_ he prayed, to whom he didn’t know, _please don’t let me be alone anymore._

The howling started again. 

Elated, Chat splashed forward towards the sound, south and then southeast. The noise grew stronger and stronger, until it hurt his ears to listen to. And not just because Chat Blanc was sensitive to loud sounds, having been surrounded by silence most of the time. 

That dog was just as lonely as he was, he decided. He was happy to be a companion for a dog.

He rounded a building, listening to the frantic cries of the animal, and found himself face to face with a Labrador retriever puppy. The dog had taken residence up on a long, flat roof covered in knocked-over trash cans and torn up litter. Chat didn’t know why there were so many on a roof, but it explained how the whelp was able to survive for so long without any people.

Chat pulled himself out of the water and cooed at the dog. The poor thing was half-starved, and Chat could count its ribs. It was also desperate for affection, launching itself at Chat and pressing its tiny paws into his belly. He crouched immediately, running his clawed fingers over its head and laughing as it licked his face. 

“Oh, oh, oh, you’re so cute,” Chat whispered, as if speaking loudly would frighten his new friend away. He scratched behind its ears. It really needed a bath; its fur was matted and stained, and he could barely see the golden color under all the filth.

“But you’re so hungry!” Chat said, giggling as the dog nipped at his fingers. “I have to feed you. Can you stay here for me while I get you some food?” 

The dog clearly didn’t understand him. It barked, and Chat winced. Unused to sounds as he was, the noise was deafening. He rubbed at the puppy’s ears rather than his own. “Okay, look, I’ll be right back. There has to be a pet store around here, okay? And I’ll get you some bottled water, too. You’re probably super thirsty.”

The puppy wouldn’t stop licking him, and its tongue felt wet and warm and soft. Chat felt the sting of tears high up in his nose. 

He was needed. He was wanted. He was loved.

His puppy loved him. 

And its breath stank horribly, which made Chat laugh.

“Okay, I’ve really got to go, now, but I’ll be right back, okay?” Chat said, kissing the top of the dog’s head. 

The dog whined as Chat stood, resting its paws on his belly again. Chat gently disengaged and set the puppy down on the ground. “I promise,” he said, booping its nose, “that I’ll be back for you.”

Chat picked up his baton from its place on his back. He turned on the rebreather function, and set the baton against his lips. He dove into the water, kicking his powerful legs and propelling himself underneath the surface to take a look around.

It took Chat Blanc longer than he would have liked to find a pet store. Everything looked different under the water. In fact, he didn’t even find one, but he did find a general store that should have pet items. He pried the doors open, and slipped inside.

Wandering the aisles, Chat soon found what he was looking for: giant bags of dog food, and a pet bowl. Taking a deep breath from his baton, he replaced the stick onto his back and took a bag of food in each hand. He lugged them to the top of the water, breaking the surface with a gasp, and swam back to the dog’s rooftop. Then he set the food down in front of the dog.

The animal’s bottom wriggled at his return, his tail wagging his entire body. _Cute,_ Chat thought, gladly indulging in his desire to pet his puppy.

“Let’s hope these bags are well-sealed and waterproof,” Chat told it, smiling. He couldn’t stop smiling; he’d found a friend. “Otherwise I’ll bring you the canned stuff, okay?”

He jumped back into the water, taking his baton up. The dog jumped in after him, whining. 

“Oh, no, no, no, no, no, you’re not supposed to follow me,” Chat said, shoving the dog back after it swam up to him and licked his face. “Augh, stop. Stop! Go back.”

But the puppy was persistent. It whined again, padding its paws on Chat’s shoulders and face, and scratching his exposed cheek with its overgrown claws. 

“Ouch!” Chat Blanc said, staring at the puppy and cursing its sudden but inevitable betrayal. “I’ll have to trim those. I’ll be right back with water, and claw trimmers, and bowls, okay? Maybe toys, too. Just… give me a minute, okay?”

He dove under the water, leaving the pitiful animal behind. Chat Blanc returned with a case of bottled water, and then made another trip for a bag with trimmers, bowls, dog shampoo, a brush, and toys. With a general store nearby, he could provide anything his puppy needed.

By the time he was done making his trips, the sun had set. Chat’s night vision cast a greenish glow over everything. The dog shone green in the limited light, and Chat laughed. 

“Okay, okay, let me feed you,” he said, setting the bag of stuff down onto the roof. He pulled the bowls out, and cracked open a bottle of water, filling one of the bowls. The puppy lapped at the water greedily, as if it hadn’t ever had a drink before in its life. It nudged the bowl around with its nose, pushing it around the rooftop. 

Chat chuckled, running his fingers over the dog’s head again. “Gosh, you’re cute. But so hungry! Let me feed you.”

He tore into the bag of dog food with his claws, scooping a huge handful out and filling the animal’s bowl. The bowl had a bone on it, which Chat thought was adorable. 

The puppy snarfed down the food just like Plagg would his camembert. Chat giggled. He sat down cross-legged next to the dog as it ate. “I think I’ll call you Plagg. You can be my kwami, okay?”

Soon, the dog was finished, and gave him a pitiful look, its black eyes soft and sad. “You want more?” Chat said, grinning. His cheeks hurt from smiling. “Well, okay, I can do that.”

So he fed the dog again. And again. And again. 

The puppy consumed all the food, eating as if it had never eaten before. It gave him another look, but this one was of pain. “Whoa,” Chat said, panic licking the back of his brain. “What’s wrong, Plagg? What did I do?” 

The animal groaned, and promptly vomited everything it ate onto his boots. “Ohh, gross, Plagg!” Chat said, recoiling. He coughed into his fist as the odor of the vomit struck his nose, nauseating him. “That’s disgusting!” 

Chat kicked his feet into the water, rinsing the smelly puke off his shoes. Then he turned back to the whining puppy, tears in his eyes. “Is this because I fed you too much at once? I’m so sorry, Plagg. I didn’t know. I thought you’d stop eating!”

His voice felt rusty and his throat felt tight. He hadn’t spoken so much in weeks, ever since he’d gone through Bunnyx’s portal and had spent time with Adrien and Marinette in another timeline. 

But he didn’t mind talking to Plagg. If only Plagg would talk back. He didn’t know why the puppy wouldn’t; Marinette’s ash statue talked to him all the time.

Chat tried to clean the puke off the trashed roof, using the water bowl to scoop up seawater and rinse the sick off. Eventually, he fed Plagg again, but only a little this time. Plagg scarfed it down and gave him another pitiful look. 

“Nuh-uh, I learned my lesson,” Chat said, shaking his head. He stroked Plagg’s soft head. “And you should have, too. I don’t know why you didn’t, you’re super smart.”

Chat cleared a spot on the roof from litter and puke, and lay down, hands laced behind his head. It was… definitely night, and though he didn’t need sleep as an akuma, the puppy probably did. 

Chat liked to at least _try_ to sleep at night, but he usually couldn’t, just stared up at the stars. They were awfully pretty; the world having no light pollution, Chat could see practically all of them. 

The puppy approached him, entire body waggling, and started licking his face again. Chat sputtered and laughed, wrapping his arms around Plagg’s neck. “Okay, okay! You’re too excited to sleep. I get it. I totally get it.”

He grinned. “I am, too,” he said, gently pushing the elated animal off his chest and sitting up. “You know what? I can’t tell if you’re a boy or a girl. I’ve never been in close contact with a dog before. You’re a boy, though. Because you’re Plagg!”

Plagg barked, and Chat winced again. He scratched behind the dog’s ears. “You know? You need a bath. Let me give you one? I’ll be gentle, I promise.”

He stood, picking the shampoo and the brush out of the bag of items he’d brought with him. “You’ll have to be patient with me, because I’ve never washed anyone but myself before.”

The dog was wiggling too much for Chat to get a good hold on it, but he managed to squirt some of the soap onto the dog’s head. It whined and shook its head rapidly, and Chat panicked. “Did I get some in your eyes? I’m so sorry! Poor Plagg. I’m so useless. I wish I knew what I was doing. Truce?” 

Chat squirted more shampoo onto the dog’s back, and started rubbing Plagg down. The soap foamed up, and soon Plagg was covered in bubbles. Chat used the water bowl to scoop up seawater and rinse the dog.

“Oh, you smell a lot better now, Plagg. Don’t you think so?” Chat said, taking the brush to his fur. The dog barked, and Chat flinched. “Why are you making that horrible noise? Why won’t you talk to me? Did I offend you?”

Plagg’s hair was matted, and Chat had to chase him down and hold him against his chest to get rid of the worst tangles. The animal squirmed and whined, but Chat soon finished the task despite Plagg’s objections.

Chat scrubbed his hands over the dog’s back, marveling at the way the golden fur parted beneath his claws. “You’re beautiful, Plagg. I’ve never seen a kwami so beautiful. What do you think?”

The dog whined.

“Plagg,” Chat snapped, frowning. “I’m getting really upset with you right now. Why don’t you want to tell me what’s on your mind? I’m not going to bite you.”

The dog said nothing.

Chat seethed. “I’ll trim your claws, and then we’ll have a real conversation, okay?” he said, his voice a dangerous growl. “And you’d better open up.”

Trimming the claws was much more difficult than Chat had anticipated. He nicked Plagg’s skin, and the resulting screaming from both of them hurt his ears. Beads of blood welled up from the cut, and Chat let the dog go in order to hobble around the roof. 

“I’m so sorry, Plagg!” Chat said, dropping the trimmers. He knelt and wrapped his arms around the puppy’s neck. Tears stung his eyes, spilling over his mask. “I didn’t mean to hurt you! I’ll never do that again, okay? Never again.”

Marinette laid a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay, Chat,” she said, smiling down at him. “You didn’t mean it. Okay?”

“Yeah,” Chat Blanc whimpered, sniffling. He swallowed around the lump in his throat. “Thanks, Bug. That means a lot to me.”

Plagg licked the tears off his face, having apparently forgiven him. Chat started blubbering again. “Thanks, Plagg.”

Chat cried himself to sleep, but was woken up by a twenty pound weight on his chest. He still needed to breathe as an akuma--a fact which usually amused him, but right now that fact was rather inconvenient to realize. He shoved Plagg off himself, groaning and opening his bleary eyes. 

It was still night.

Sleeping on rooftops always made him sore, so as he yawned and stretched, he tried to get rid of the kinks in his back. He smacked his lips. “Plagg, I’m going to go for a swim, okay? But I’ll feed you before I go.”

He patted the dog on the head and filled his bowl, watching with growing happiness as Plagg devoured the dry food. “BRB,” Chat said, grinning as he used the internet parlance. Gosh, he missed texting with Marinette. 

He hopped into the freezing cold water, shivering as it struck the exposed parts of his face. His suit usually regulated his temperature, but the first swim of the morning--or night, as it was right now--always chilled him.

The dog jumped into the water after him, dog paddling over to lick his face. “No, Plagg, no, just…”

Marinette laughed. She beamed at him from her place on the roof, and he waved at her, smiling.

“Plagg,” Chat said, scratching behind the dog’s soaked ears. The fur was still smooth and silky from his having washed and brushed it, but wet dog smelled like wet dog. “Let’s go back to the roof, okay?”

Plagg barked, and Chat snarled. “Stop making that noise! You have words, so use them!”

In a huff, he swam back to the roof, leaving Plagg to catch up.

By the time the puppy pulled itself onto the roof, butt wiggling, Chat had forgiven him again. He stroked the dog’s ears and kissed the top of his head, tasting wet fur. “Blech! Gross! You’re gross, Plagg.”

He rustled through the plastic bag, and pulled out a ball. “Want to play fetch, Plagg? Dogs do that, right?”

Plagg’s tail shook his whole body. Chat held the ball up, and Plagg jumped at it, nipping at Chat’s fingers. Chat laughed and threw the ball, watching it bounce once, twice, three times across the roof. 

Plagg tore after the chew toy, barking. Chat winced. He really wished his friend would stop doing that. Plagg launched himself onto the toy, bumping it with his nose and chasing it down. He chomped down on the entire thing, squishing it between his teeth and making the ball squeak. 

Chat clapped his hands together and hopped from foot to foot. “Good job, Plagg!” he said, overjoyed to see his kwami having fun. “Now, bring it back, okay?”

Plagg listened for once. The dog trotted back to Chat, tail and head both held high, ball caught between his teeth. Chat held his hands out, and the puppy dropped its prize into his waiting fingers.

Chat Blanc threw the ball all night long, until both dog and boy were exhausted. The fingers of dawn grasped at the night sky by the time Chat decided to stop. Chat sat down wearily, bringing one knee up to his chest and straightening the other leg in front of him. 

He yawned. Though he didn’t need sleep, he could get tired--and Chat was bone weary all the time.

He’d had fun with Plagg today. Though he did miss conversation. Plagg curled up in his lap, resting his jaw on his thigh, and Chat petted the puppy until it fell asleep.

***

“I don’t see why you won’t talk to me, Plagg,” Chat said, gritting his teeth.

They’d thrown the ball for weeks now. Chat was bored, so very, very bored, and Plagg didn’t speak. Every day was the same: feed the dog, give it a bath, throw the ball. 

And Plagg kept barking at him. Almost as if the puppy was trying to talk but just refusing to use words that Chat Blanc knew it had. Every whine, every bark, every howl ratcheted up the tension in Chat’s shoulders just a fraction more, until the boy in white was ready to snap.

It was time to feed the dog. Maybe. Chat Blanc never could tell, he was always just guessing. But he tried to feed the animal at sunrise and sunset and never in between, because otherwise Plagg would throw up. It was sunrise now.

The dry food clinked into Plagg’s bowl, dropped by Chat’s hand. Chat would have to make another trip to the store soon; the first bag had run out and the second one was running low.

He crouched and petted the puppy a little roughly as it ate. 

Weeks and weeks without a word. Even Marinette had stopped visiting.

Chat was strung out and tense. Sometimes he’d break down and cry, but not today. No, today he was determined to get Plagg to speak. 

“Why don’t you want to speak to me, Plagg?” Chat said, snarling as he stood, fists clenched at his sides. “You’re my friend, aren’t you? Friends talk to each other. That’s what friends _do_. And you’re leaving me in the lurch.”

Plagg looked at him strangely. Hope flared to life under Chat’s breastbone. Maybe today, _today_ would be the day that Plagg finally spoke.

Then Plagg barked at him.

Chat hissed, covering his ears. He lashed out with his foot, catching the dog around the middle and sending it bouncing across the roof with a sickening crunch. The puppy let loose a piteous yelp, followed by a whining noise Chat had never heard before and never wanted to hear again. 

Chat gasped. “Plagg,” he whispered, bringing his trembling hands up to his mouth. The puppy struggled to stand. It padded over to him, whining. “I’m so sorry, Plagg!” 

Chat let loose a choked out sob. He was never meant to be a dog owner. He couldn’t even take care of himself, let alone a dependent. He was irresponsible. He was impatient. He was cruel.

He’d abused Plagg’s trust in him. He’d abused _Plagg._ Chat had never meant to hurt him, but clearly he had. 

Plagg licked his boots, and Chat started crying for real.

He didn’t want to touch the dog, didn’t think he deserved to. He fled, diving into the water and swimming far, far away, as fast as he could. Chat Blanc stopped to catch his breath. He heard splashing behind him, and looked back over his shoulder. Plagg was still trailing him, about half a mile back.

“Plagg, no!” he cried, his voice torn by anguish. He waved a hand at the pitiful little puppy. “Go back! Go back!”

Plagg kept swimming towards him. Chat cursed under his breath.

He called for his power. He wasn’t intending to Cataclysm the faithful, little dog, but he had no choice. He launched a ball of white energy at the water beside the dog instead, making it yelp again as the waves washed over its head.

Chat treaded water. Plagg wasn’t coming up for air. _Please,_ Chat thought, biting his knuckles. _Please be okay. Please._

Plagg surfaced again. Chat choked on his relief. The dog padded in place for a moment, and then turned around again, heading away from Chat. 

“Plagg,” Chat said, biting his lip until he tasted the copper tang of blood. “I’ll miss you.”

Chat had nowhere to go, now. No one to love. He had wasted his one chance, and would never get one again.

He yearned for something to comfort him. Somewhere familiar.

Paris, he decided. He had to go back to Paris.

Chat started swimming.

***

Chat thought about his friend for years. Everyday, Chat mourned for Plagg, the animal that had blindly trusted him. He’d betrayed that trust, and had left the dog to fend for itself.

He didn’t want to think about what had happened to the dog.

So he made up fantasies about what Plagg was doing. The puppy had finally caught the ball. The puppy had plenty of food. The puppy had found a family to take care of him, a loving group of people that Chat envied.

Chat was happy for him, in the end.

With nothing to do, he started a schedule again. Scream at the ash statue of Gabriel, talk to the ash statue of Ladybug. Float face up. Pretend to eat lunch. Work out. Go for a swim. Nap. Eat dinner. Sing into the void. Try to sleep.

Chat Blanc decided to change things up today. He sat on the top of the Montparnasse Tower, his legs dangling off the side of the roof. It was time to sing, or so he thought. He never could tell time, anymore. “Little kitty on a roof, all alone without his lady…”

“Chat Noir?”

Chat Blanc turned towards the sound of a woman’s voice. There, standing on the roof behind him, was Ladybug in all her star-bright glory.

Tears prickled Chat’s eyes. He’d never hallucinated Ladybug before, so he knew this was real. That rabbit-eared, redheaded--she was redheaded, right?--woman had kept her promise. His mouth was dry, and his chest was tight. 

“My Lady?”

**Author's Note:**

> Are you interested in reading or writing fanfiction? Are you looking for a community of like-minded and supportive people? Then join the [Miraculous Fanworks](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks) Discord server! 
> 
> We are always welcoming new members, and would love to see you. We offer a variety of conversations, from fic discussions to writing support to fanfiction prompts. We even have monthly server-wide events and group writing projects! 
> 
> Come join today!


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